Commanders @ Cowboys · Week 8

WEEK 8 · FINAL

THE READ

69 points between Commanders and Cowboys

Scoreboard operators earned their money. Commanders 38, Cowboys 31. Joe Milton threw for Cowboys — 24/37, 306 yards, 3 TD — in a losing effort. Jayden Daniels was steady for Commanders — 24/30, 275 yards, 3 TD. That is 3 straight games over 250 for Joe Milton. On the ground: Commanders 215, Cowboys 96.

Caleb Brooks Beat reporter

THE WIDER PICTURE

Team	SRS	SOS	MARGIN	TO +/-
Commanders	-11.0	-1.4	-9.6	-7
Cowboys	+1.1	-4.8	+5.9	+4

SRS is how many points a side beats an average team by once you account for who they played — beat a good team by 3 and it counts for more than beating a bad one by 20. SOS is how hard that schedule has been. Full table.

Cowboys — in the hunt · 8-6 Playoff picture →

IN THE BOOTH

Sierra Vaughn Analyst

Washington's ground game—215 yards to Dallas's 96—is what separated a 7-point margin that could've gone either way; the Commanders got what they needed on the ground and still had to win it through the air, which tells you they were the more complete team despite their record saying otherwise.

They only ever read the box score and this league's own numbers — none of them has a source, and none of them can report anything that did not happen.

Joe Milton

Cowboys

24/37, 306 yards, 3 TD

Jayden Daniels

Commanders

24/30, 275 yards, 3 TD

Jauan Jennings

Commanders

8 catches, 128 yards, 2 TD

THE STORY SO FAR

🔥 Joe Milton has now cleared 250 passing yards in 3 straight games.

🔥 George Pickens has now cleared 100 receiving yards in 3 straight games.

⭐ Jacory Croskey-Merritt has not had a better afternoon this season.

⭐ Jauan Jennings has not had a better afternoon this season.

📈 Jaydon Blue is in form: 78 rushing yards a game over his last three, against a season average of 52.

WHAT DECIDED IT

On the ground Commanders 215, Cowboys 96 Commanders

Total yards Commanders 490, Cowboys 402 Commanders

Through the air Cowboys 306, Commanders 275 Cowboys

Pressure Cowboys 4 sacks, Commanders 2 Cowboys

THE ROOM Final. The recap is below.

📺 THE WEEK 8 SHOW this game is in the week's show ▶ Watch the show

THE MATCHUP SCOUT every number below is counted from the export or read off the roster — nothing is inferred about playcalling

LEAGUE DATA counted by Madden, and arithmetic on top of it

Pass-heavy Pass 60% · Rush 40% · 23.4 scored, 33.0 allowed

7.5 yds/att 57.0% completions 5.3 yds/carry 336.6 yds/game 2.2 giveaways/game 6.4% sack rate last 5: 1-4

Primary weapon: Terry McLaurin WR — 30% of the receiving yards · DEPENDENCY HIGH

SAPPHIRE METRICS QB efficiency 45 · Turnover-prone Balance 90 Ball security 38 Back usage 29% QB runs 5.7/game

Most exposed: ball security -- 2.2 giveaways a game

PERSONNEL off the roster — unit averages, best starters only

QB 88 WR 87 TE 79 RB 82 OL 83 DL 85 LB 86 DB 85

Best: Laremy Tunsil LT 93 Fastest: Jaylin Lane WR 94 SPD 3 at star dev or better

YOUR NOTEBOOK what you wrote about them — private, and never a Sapphire statistic

MATCHUP ADVANTAGES unit averages against each other — inside three points is a push

Commanders receivers vs Cowboys secondary 87 v 87 EVEN

Cowboys receivers vs Commanders secondary 88 v 85 COWBOYS

Commanders line vs Cowboys front 83 v 86 COWBOYS

Cowboys line vs Commanders front 83 v 85 EVEN

Commanders backs vs Cowboys run defence 82 v 85 COWBOYS

Cowboys backs vs Commanders run defence 82 v 86 COMMANDERS

Commanders passer vs Cowboys secondary 88 v 87 EVEN

Cowboys passer vs Commanders secondary 88 v 85 COWBOYS

TOP PERFORMERS

Joe Milton QB Cowboys 306 pass yds

Jayden Daniels QB Commanders 275 pass yds

Jauan Jennings WR Commanders 128 rec yds

George Pickens WR Cowboys 117 rec yds

Jacory Croskey-Merritt HB Commanders 114 rush yds

Jaydon Blue HB Cowboys 85 rush yds

CeeDee Lamb WR Cowboys 84 rec yds

Kaytron Allen HB Commanders 73 rush yds

Chigoziem Okonkwo TE Commanders 63 rec yds

Trey'Dez Green TE Cowboys 57 rec yds

🎬 The Game Recap
this game as an episode -- the score, the stars, the numbers that decided it -- and a video you can post ›

BOX SCORE

COMMANDERS

PLAYER	C/ATT	YDS	TD	INT	SCK	LNG	RTG
Jayden Daniels QB	24/30	275	3	0	4	70	138.1

COWBOYS

PLAYER	C/ATT	YDS	TD	INT	SCK	LNG	RTG
Joe Milton QB	24/37	306	3	0	2	37	117.6

COMMANDERS

PLAYER	CAR	YDS	AVG	TD	BTK	YAC	LNG	FUM
Jacory Croskey-Merritt HB	9	114	12.7	0	4	61	45	0
Kaytron Allen HB	11	73	6.6	0	3	37	20	1
Jayden Daniels QB	6	23	3.8	1	1	9	14	0
Tyjae Spears HB	2	8	4	1	0	0	7	0
Jauan Jennings WR	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0
Antonio Williams WR	1	-3	-3	0	2	0	0	0

COWBOYS

PLAYER	CAR	YDS	AVG	TD	BTK	YAC	LNG	FUM
Jaydon Blue HB	10	85	8.5	0	4	52	33	0
Javonte Williams HB	5	10	2	1	0	0	4	0
Joe Milton QB	1	3	3	0	0	0	3	1
Trey'Dez Green TE	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0
Nick Marsh WR	1	-2	-2	0	0	0	0	0

COMMANDERS

PLAYER	REC	YDS	AVG	TD	YAC	DRP	LNG
Jauan Jennings WR	8	128	16	2	90	0	70
Chigoziem Okonkwo TE	4	63	15.8	0	11	0	29
Antonio Williams WR	4	38	9.5	0	21	0	19
Terry McLaurin WR	4	34	8.5	1	9	0	15
Jacory Croskey-Merritt HB	3	8	2.7	0	14	1	3
Kaytron Allen HB	1	4	4	0	3	0	4

COWBOYS

PLAYER	REC	YDS	AVG	TD	YAC	DRP	LNG
George Pickens WR	11	117	10.6	2	8	1	27
CeeDee Lamb WR	5	84	16.8	1	43	1	37
Trey'Dez Green TE	3	57	19	0	12	0	31
Nick Marsh WR	4	43	10.8	0	19	2	14
Jaydon Blue HB	1	5	5	0	4	0	5

COMMANDERS

PLAYER	TKL	SCK	FF	CMP ALW
Trey Amos CB	5	0	0	4
Sonny Styles MIKE	5	0	1	2
Ellis Robinson IV CB	5	0	0	7
Nick Cross SS	5	0	0	4
Jaquan Brisker SS	4	0	0	2
Mike Sainristil CB	3	0	0	1
Dorance Armstrong LEDG	3	0	0	0
Grover Stewart DT	3	0.5	0	0
Trey Hendrickson REDG	2	1	0	0
Odafe Oweh LEDG	1	0.5	0	0
Joshua Josephs REDG	1	0	0	0
Frankie Luvu WILL	1	0	0	1
Koi Perich FS	1	0	0	0
Leo Chenal WILL	1	0	0	1

COWBOYS

PLAYER	TKL	SCK	PD	FF	CMP ALW
Markquese Bell SS	8	0	0	1	5
Dee Winters WILL	8	0	1	0	5
Shavon Revel Jr CB	6	0	0	0	2
Jalen Thompson FS	5	0	0	0	1
Caleb Downs SS	4	0.5	0	0	2
Quinnen Williams DT	3	1	0	0	0
Ja'Whaun Bentley MIKE	3	0	0	0	1
DaRon Bland CB	3	0.5	1	0	2
Evan Williams FS	2	0	0	0	2
Donovan Ezeiruaku REDG	2	0	0	0	0
Malachi Lawrence LEDG	2	0.5	0	0	0
Upton Stout CB	2	0	0	0	3
Kenny Clark DT	1	0.5	0	0	0
Jaishawn Barham WILL	1	0.5	0	0	0
Adepoju Adebawore REDG	1	0.5	0	0	0

COMMANDERS

PLAYER	FG	XP	LNG
Drew Stevens K	1/1	5/5	44

COWBOYS

PLAYER	FG	XP	LNG
Brandon Aubrey K	1/1	4/4	53

RECENT FORM

Commanders

L 24–34 vs Eagles WK 7

L 10–38 vs Bills WK 5

L 35–45 vs Cardinals WK 4

Cowboys

W 52–10 vs Dolphins WK 7

W 41–34 vs Eagles WK 6

W 27–17 vs Patriots WK 5

TEAM STATS

Commanders		Cowboys
490	TOTAL YARDS	402
275	PASSING YARDS	306
215	RUSHING YARDS	96
4	SACKS ALLOWED	2
2	SACKS MADE	4
1	GIVEAWAYS	1
1	TAKEAWAYS	1

Bold is the side that won that line. Giveaways come off a team's own offensive rows and takeaways off its own defensive rows — two separate payloads, so they need not tie out against each other.

ALL-TIME HEAD-TO-HEAD

1 COMMANDERS — 0 COWBOYS

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